Love the flavor of an outdoor-grilled cheeseburger and a side of fries? Try making this delicious, easy-to-prepare recipe this summer with an abundance of fresh vegetable garnishes. Just in time for a 4^th of July picnic. The Cheeseburger Cobb has become a family favorite for us. We like to serve it with a side dish of oven-baked, spicy-seasoned sweet potatoes. For those of you on the VLCD, serve without the potatoes until you transition to the LCD.

Ingredients Needed:

For the cheeseburger:

• One pound 4% lean ground sirloin or turkey

Burger seasoning of your choice, 2 teaspoons

Four 2% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese slices, 80 calories each

Four slices red onion

Four slices tomatoes

For the salad:

Eight Butter lettuce leaves , whole, washed

One small avocado, sliced

Four pickle spears

Vegetable garnishes of radishes, carrots, cucumbers, or other low-carb vegetables of your choice

Optional items:

• Two cups diced or sliced sweet potato, seasoned with 1 T. olive oil and burger seasoning, about 1 T. Toss. (Many grocery stores sell pre-cut sweet potato wedges in the produce section.)
• Condiments of mustard or horseradish

Assembly:

1. On a baking tray, place the seasoned sweet potatoes and place in 450 degree heated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, turn, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

2. While potatoes are baking, in a bowl, mix raw burger meat with the seasoning. Shape into four patties. Grill (or pan grill) to your liking. About 3 minutes before patties are cooked, add the slices of cheese.

3. On a large platter, arrange the lettuce leaves evenly on plate. Add the fresh garnishes.

4. Place cooked patties on top of a lettuce leaf and top each patty with a red onion and tomato slice.

5. Serve platter on table and let each person take a lettuce leaf with burger patty and add the garnishes of choice to plate.

Nutritional Analysis: Without sweet potato serving: Each serving contains approximately 325 calories, 33 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 16 grams of fat, and 5 grams of fiber. With sweet potato serving: 430 calories, 33 grams of protein, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of fat and 8 grams of fiber.

By Paula Hendricks, BS, Nutritionist-C